Patricia Marovich, Music, Choral Teacher

Patricia Andrews Marovich used to joke that the first time she climbed the stairs to the music room at Providence-St. Mel School, all she found were two broken pianos and a dead mouse.

In her 11 years as music teacher and choral director at the West Side school, Mrs. Marovich, 40, nurtured several choruses and concert band groups, taught music lessons and mentored a semiprofessional gospel quartet. Her classroom walls were adorned with photographs of African-American musicians and leaders, and she invited prominent musicians such as jazz bassist Milt Hinton to spend a day with her students.

"She had unlimited energy and she demanded a level of performance that extended beyond the auditorium stage," said her husband, Robert. "She taught young people to believe in themselves. She used to have a saying: `Never forget who you are, where you come from and what you represent.' It was that kind of commitment to quality education and never giving up that transcended the classroom. It really entered her students' lives and her own life as well."

She left Providence-St. Mel in 1999 to finish her master's degree in urban music education at DePaul University, but illness forced her to abandon her studies.

She was born in Beaufort, S.C., and grew up in Mishawaka, Ind. She graduated in 1982 from St. Mary's College in Indiana with a degree in music education.

She played Irish airs and traditional wedding songs on the piano and was a musical director for church-sponsored variety shows in Oak Park. But her great love was choral directing, even though she didn't like the sound of her own singing voice.

"When she would direct the choruses, you would always see her singing along as well," her husband said. "Though she said there was no one who couldn't sing, she was often shy about her own singing."

She taught music appreciation, directed the choir and prepared students for musicals for five years at Maria High School on the Southwest Side. At Providence-St. Mel, she transformed a school with no formal music program into one that nurtured musicians, her husband said.

"She really wanted her students to know the full history of African-American music and culture," he said. "She made sure when she taught music that they knew who their ancestors were. She taught the full range of African-American music: blues, jazz, gospel, African-American classical composers and opera singers."

Mrs. Marovich was nominated for a Golden Apple teaching award in 1998. In June, St. Mary's College honored her with a Humanitas award in recognition of her work with West Side students.

She traveled to Australia, South Africa and the Netherlands and liked to teach music classes in foreign schools when she was visiting. In South Africa, she and her husband spent a day at a homeless camp, playing and singing with children.

In addition to her husband, survivors include her parents, Bob and Peg Andrews; two brothers, Joe and John Andrews; and two sisters, Colleen Andrews and Molly Brenneman.

Mass will be said at 11 a.m. Monday at St. Ita Church, 1220 W. Catalpa Ave., Chicago.